I'm going to play catch up today with a prompt from the week just past.... How'd you meet your closest female friend? My closest female friend is the mom of my youngest son's friend. We became friends through our boys and because she is my neighbor. At first glance we wouldn't seem to have a lot in common... she is much more liberal than I, raised in a totally different lifestyle, different values in some key areas, different styles and tastes. I have often wondered what makes us friends. It started because she is really a loving person, kind and generous with my boys... almost like an aunt. And then over time I grew to really respect her for the generosity she shows to all people and for her acceptance of all people.... she reminds me a lot of my little sister too, perhaps that is it. Anyway.. whatever the reason we are friends, I'm glad. She has helped me enjoy the last six years in ways I wouldn't have without her.

The weekend blog prompt is to watch the short film at this link... http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/ and discuss it. It's pretty cool... go see it.

I am obviously no good at blogging! I haven't remembered to come and write anything since the 5th of October... that's two weeks! Or maybe I just don't have anything worthwhile to say... LOL! This is a layout I did for the "Women In Your Life" challenge at dsp as a warm up for the Breast Cancer Awareness Crop. It is using Samara Guglar's free kit, Power to the Flower, and Lisa Carter's stitching set, Keep Em In Stitches. I made the little glass beads. That's my mom. :)

A New Layout, Learning New Things.

This was made with my kit, Magical Night, which I made for the SNL #19 challenge at dsp. Cool, huh? Everything but the Circle Chipboard "T" and the fonts was made by me in photoshop (The fonts are by Suzanne Walker, the chipboard by Lauren Bavin). And, with this post, I've learned how to upload images to blogger............. now I just need to figure out how to personalize my blog with some cool graphics, etc. :)

What Can You Hear Right Now

Right now, as I finish browsing dsp, I'm sitting in an upstairs bedroom where we keep our computer. Outside it is a sunny fall day... crisp yet bright. I can hear the sound of the lawnmower next door and the sounds of the lawn service employees getting equipment out, bangs and thuds, laughter and the mumble of voices. Then there is the sharp ding of the door bell... it is a friend coming to pick up a registration form so our boys can join a recreational bowling league. Laughter, thank yous, good bye. From the window I can hear the slight breeze in the tree, a background noise to all the other sounds in the neighborhood. Below me I hear the voice of my husband who is working at home this morning. He sounds frustrated, annoyed, a bit impatient. I wish he'd win the lottery.

Write For Five Minutes...

Ok, perhaps I cheated just a tiny bit because I sat and 'thought' about what I would write about... hasn't helped me much, though! Today I had to go to the dentist for part 2 of a root canal. I HATE the dentist... I have major dental phobia and am always on a quest to find a dentist who understands this and can help me overcome it.... anyway, I think I've found a good dentist. He is kind, patient, understands where I'm coming from. Unfortunatly they ran into a problem while doing their thing in my mouth and I have to go back at least twice more to get the whole root canal/crown thing finished. bummer. I've worked really hard not to pass my dental fears on to my kids and have been pretty successful... neither one has had a cavity (they're 8 and 15) and aren't afraid of the dentist at all. I sort of panic even when I have to take them. It is awful. I've tried valium (which helped at the time... but, yikes... drugs?). I've tried counseling. I've tried hypnosis (didn't help me at all). I had overcome this problem to a great degree before we moved from Alabma with the help of an excellent dentist there. He, sadly, was diagnosed with MS shortly after we moved away and doesn't work much anymore so I can't go back and see him. My first two dentist in Michigan were awful and I found myself

Celebrate A Relationship in Your Life

Celebrate a realtionship in your life.... I've many relationships that deserve celebrating.... my husband, my sons, my best friends... but today I'm going to write about a group of five women who have come to mean the world to me, the women in my Moms-In-Touch group. Moms-In-Touch is an international orginization made up of small groups of women who meet weekly to pray for their children and their children's schools. When my oldest son was in second grade (so many years ago), Pam asked me if I'd like to come and pray with her for our son's and their teacher. I said "I'd love to but..... " which could just have easily been translated as "no". Pam continued to ask me gently, kindly each year the boys were in elementary school and each year I had a different version of "I'd love to but... "

As our boys graduated from the elementary school and moved on to the middle school, Pam asked me once again if I wouldn't like to come to a brunch for Moms-In-Touch at her house, no commitment she said... just brunch and meet the other moms in the area who are involved in Moms-In-Touch. For some reason I said ok.... and when brunch was over and she began to talk about Moms-In-Touch I listened. Then she said they needed a "host" home and I found myself saying I'd be happy to have the group at my house. So, the next week three other moms and I met and prayed for our boys... we all had brand new middle schoolers and I'm now going on my fifth year of praying with these women... we've added a mom or two over the years and a mom or two has left. But the same core group that began praying together as mom's of sixth graders is still here. We are all from very different backgrounds, all very different type moms. Two are catholic, one is evangelical, one methodist, one church of Christ and then there's me... I no longer attend a church having been in two extremely dysfunctional ones in the past ten years yet they don't care. We have one thing in common and it's enough, faith. Faith in the power of prayer.

One of these women has become my "girlfriend". We do things together, our boys are friends. The others aren't really "friends" in that same sense. They are more like sisters. We're quite different but we are close in a way you can only be when you have prayed for, cried for, rejoiced for someone's child with them. I share the ups and downs of life with kids with these women and they with me. We have prayed for the little things in our kids life, like grades and making the sports teams. We've prayerd for the big things like a child caught smoking pot. We've had serious illnesses to pray over, a divorce, the death of a parent and friend. God's shown me with these women the power of his spirit to transcend our differences, to unite through his love.